1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to an inputting device.
2. Background Art
Many electronic devices, PDAs (personal digital assistants), for example, adopt an inputting device, called a pointing device. Users can use the inputting device to input desired information by moving a cursor or pointer on a display.
Portable terminals widely use an inputting device that can move an object desired to control, such as a cursor or pointer, in longitudinal and latitudinal directions. Such an inputting device recognizes the user's operation and converts the operation to a command to move the cursor or pointer in the longitudinal and latitudinal directions.
Today's mobile communication terminals are equipped with a wide variety of functions, for which the inputting device increasingly needs to move the cursor or pointer in the diagonal directions as well as the longitudinal and latitudinal directions. The conventional inputting devices, however, have not been able to move the pointer diagonally, hindering the efficient input of information.
Although an 8-directional inputting device has been developed to move the pointer or cursor to 45-degree angles as well as the longitudinal and latitudinal directions, there still have been limitations in unrestricted input of information. Although there also has been a device moving the cursor or pointer by use of a mouse or a track ball, not only was the operation inconvenient, but also the structure was complex, making the device unfit for portable terminals, which is increasingly becoming slimmer.
A joystick may be more convenient than the mouse or track ball, owing to its simpler operation of the lever, but it is also difficult to apply the joystick to a slim electronic device, such as a mobile phone.